'invertebrate' for 'inveterate'

Especially the phrase ‘invertebrate liar,’ which gets almost 1,000 ghits. The substitution appears to come about because of the unwarranted idea that it’s insulting to call someone an invertebrate. This isn’t exactly speciesism- it’s more like ‘phylumism.’ Examples:

... remember that Kerry’s position on gay marriage is every bit as hypocritical as Bush’s, but is demonstrably weaker due to his invertebrate tendency to straddle …
intrepidmedia.com/column.asp?id=1953